Think MTV: generating social change with celebrity culture

20Sep09

Are you one of the 80% of youth (aka 72 million of MTV’s 90 million viewers) that want to get involved, but doesn’t know how? Well, Viacom-owned MTV has found the answer. MTV developed a network of celebrities, big name philanthropic organizations and young people looking to change the world, one link at a time – welcome Think MTV. Created on September 20, 2007, Think MTV is the result of  ”Just Cause“, a year-long study that explored socially conscious teenaged minds. Not only did youth want to get involved, but they knew what they wanted –  an online forum, self-expression through blogs and photos, education about social issues and a chance to connect with other like-minded kids. MTV partnered with top philanthropic foundations: Case Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldhirsch Foundation and MCJ Aemlior Foundation. This collaboration gives Think MTV the credentials to succeed in the social change arena. These foundations act as advisors and help direct traffic of smaller not-for-profits to the site.

This isn’t the first time MTV has entered the social issue realm – MTV has a history of socially-changing campaigns such as Rock the Vote. MTV is taking its interest a step further by provoking dialogue through a social network.

Motivating change with celebrities and giveaways

MTV is the helm of coolness and Think MTV makes participation cool and rewarding. “Get Rewarded” is a key incentive to be apart of the network. For every socially conscious effort, members get rewarded with “action badges” that can be redeemed for top-notch prizes. For registering to vote, you could be seeing Kanye West at the VMAs! If that doesn’t motivate you to do good things, I don’t know what will. So far, it’s working. For all the other thousand kids that won’t win tickets or dance parties (or other equally glitsy prizes), there is still the chance to be Think-MTV-friends with celebs. Members can add celebs and organizations to their “think tank,” aka friends list. What’s a social media app without friends? Though I might be out of luck as this site is only open to my southern friends, the Americans. Because of the nature of MTV’s viewership, the site hosts opportunities for young people to get involved but also gathers the traffic of volunteers and educators. I’ve learned that I can befriend Adam from MTV’s The Paper. He’s a featured member. Featured members, like featured videos on Youtube, stream through the top of every page. When you do well, you become featured. Becoming a featured member also encourages the possibility of being on MTV, the channel.

Design: only for the social media-savvy

Moving on, I hate clutter and wow, talk about a cluttered interface. Flashing headlines, featured members, tags, videos, blogs, ratings! Think MTV is really trying to throw everything at youth – I understand “Get Educated” is one of the five pillars of the site, but c’mon! Throwing every possible medium at a user is too much. As a first-time visitor, I didn’t know where to start and quite frankly, I was turned off. How can I make change if I don’t even know how to edit my profile?

Messy interface is information overload.

The layout of this site looks like a mash-up of Facebook, Youtube, MySpace and every other social networking site used by youth today. You have to be a social media expert to really navigate your way here, and that’s the point. The users of this site are expected to blog, post videos, chat (etc.) about their interest in social issues. This social media expertise is what drives the site. Furthermore, it amplifies the impact of youth and creates a collective voice to help combat various issues. Extensive multimedia give youth a variety of options to educate themselves and respond.

Affecting change through online education and community

Social issues options galore!

Ok, now onto the “Take Action.” The website’s frame contains the various social issues a kid might want to explore. This includes everything from discrimination to poverty to eco-friendliness. Simply by clicking, you are led to more links and features about the issue of your choice. So far, it’s all about education and “meeting” people that have similar interests. To learn about how to physically get involved, clicking “Take Action” unravels the volunteer opportunities and actions, such as signing petitions. This feature basically leads kids to other organizations’ websites for details. If sticking to online friends is what you’re after, a refined member search allows you to seek out the activists in your area, or the celebs or the organizations. This site could be the next great networking tool, a Linked In for the socially conscious 18 yr old.

In other words…

50 Cent or social change? Why not both?

In my honest opinion, the site seems to be gaining attention and after two years, it has survived and mustered the ability to give away attractive incentives like $500,000 scholarships. A great pat-on-the-back for MTV. It seems like MTV asked the right questions of their audience and produced what they wanted. For MTV to expand its agenda beyond reality TV and Carson Daly is a very strategic move, not to mention gains brownie points for potentially generating insight and compassion in America’s youth. Think MTV also helps gravitate and boost MTV’s online presence. MTV.com receives 38 million hits – let’s assume that 1% of that population checks out Think MTV, that equates to 380,000 hits. Not too shabby.

If there is anything that will bring this site down, it is the ugly and unmanageable design. Though maybe this says something about MTV’s priorities: they want to get the job done. I guess that’s another point for them… although they could try looking at sites that share the same motive but are easier on the eyes.

Overall, I’d give MTV 5 stars for objective, 1 star for design… Ok, 3 stars for design. Though the site is ugly, it has all the features of popular social media sites and it gives American kids plenty of options to show off their social issue expertise. I’d also throw in 4 stars for ingenuity. Using celebrities to motivate youth to get involved is an added touch of charm and throwing in chances to meet them? Well, I’m sold. 50 Cent here I come!

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Tags: 50 cent, C2SA, Case Foundation, Gates Foundation, Goldhirsch Foundation, HumberPR, Just Cause, Linked In, MCJ Amelior Foundation, MTV, review, SocAppReview, Social Application Review, tech review, Think MTV